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Patients with thymomas have an increased risk of developing additional malignancies: lack of immunological surveillance?
Author(s) -
Granato Felice,
Ambrosio Maria R,
Spina Donatella,
Lazzi Stefano,
Rocca Bruno J,
Voltolini Luca,
Bongiolatti Stefano,
Luzzi Luca,
Gotti Giuseppe,
Leoncini Lorenzo,
Tosi Piero
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
histopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.626
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1365-2559
pISSN - 0309-0167
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2559.2011.04111.x
Subject(s) - thymoma , medicine , malignancy , lymphoma , histopathology , thyroid cancer , thymectomy , cancer , pathology , oncology , myasthenia gravis
Granato F, Ambrosio M R, Spina D, Lazzi S, Rocca B J, Voltolini L, Bongiolatti S, Luzzi L, Gotti G, Leoncini L & Tosi P
(2012) Histopathology 60, 270–277
Patients with thymomas have an increased risk of developing additional malignancies: lack of immunological surveillance? Aims: To assess the risk, for patients with thymoma, of developing an additional malignancy (AM). Methods and results: We studied 68 patients with thymomas. Based on the World Health Organization classification, the tumours were categorised as A, AB or B (B1, B2, B3) thymomas. Control populations comprised 114 patients with colorectal cancer, 108 patients with lymphoma and 123 patients with thyroid carcinoma. Patients with thymomas showed a higher risk of developing an AM (22 of 68 patients versus 11 of 114, eight of 108, and eight of 123 patients, respectively; P = 0.0002). The association between thymomas and AMs was related to the thymoma histotype, with B1, B2, B3 and AB tumours showing a higher risk of developing an AM than A thymomas ( P = 0.0474). Conclusions: Patients affected by thymomas showed a significantly higher risk of developing additional malignancies than those in the control groups, and cases that exhibited a predominantly cortical component were more likely to develop other neoplasms. This may be related to the functions of cortical thymic epithelial cells in providing for T lymphocyte maturation through interaction with major histocompatibility complexes.